New Madonna Album - get yer trax here!

Pretty good stuff, btw. Need a few more listens to decide whether it is as good as her previous two albums...

the album is getting lukewarm reviews and is unlikely to sell as much as the last 2

I really like it.

I just don't have the energy to download these tracks, I'm going to buy the damned thing anyway because I am pathetic.

Geir, if this is true, then Madonna has accidentally made The Best Record In Existence...

Agreed, that rap at the end of "American Life" is fully embarrassingly cringeworthy. FWIW, I loved the original video - not seen the new one tho. Still, dunno what the fuss was about in the first place - for fuck's sake, it's Madonna, it's not like it's a huge surprise she's stirring up some state-sanctioned "controversy", now is it?

oh well done Madge for squeezing out such profound observation. tritus maximus. lyrically Madonna has sucked profusely for years now it has to be said.

Have to say, too, that every review I've read of the album has been glowing - apparently the best thing she's ever done. And after the humdrum Music album, that's what she needs.

Keeps her from acting.....

Call me old fashioned, but a Bond theme should sound like a Bond theme - grand, filmic, lush, orchestral.... and Die Another Day just wasn't right for the part. If it were just a single, not a theme song, it would probably sound better.

American Life's a real grower - it took ages for me to get the hooks. Sounds like about 3 different singles in one. And the chorus is beautiful. A triumph.

HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY NOT HELP?!

anyway i realise 'die another day' talk is so November last year so should stop

Ally - well said. Languid vogueing..... whatta tongue twister.

i soon realised that Russ was right - what had I been thinking? are we just lying to ourselves thinking Madonna is still good, afraid of the truth? just then, Big called...

And what, pray tell, is that statement? The lyrics are all about Madonna's struggles with the burden of wealth and fame, not about man's inhumanity to man or anything even remotedly approaching the outskirts of "profound". It's self-absorbed, opportunistic and flimsy. Oh, and the song stinks as well.

i mean geez from the way some people are puzzled by this whole thing you'd think that nobody had ever sung a song from a viewpoint of somebody they consider shallow before

Dan - extremely eloquently put. Thank you.

(and the single is sooooooooooo terrible)

Bizarrely, American Life appears to be her most European record. Maybe most Americans don't get it.

(in the original thread on "american life" i asked if madonna even considered herself american, and i think the question is worth wondering (yr second graf has something to do with that))

No, I just analyze the shit out of things; usually I don't talk about what I see because it bores other people. (See also "Mulholland Drive".)

I'll have him take a large dump on you, if you don't watch your step, o holder of low standards.

Sarcastic or not, the rap comes across a maximum irritant.

It really is great, btw.

Tastes great, less filling, etc.

i can't even believe my eyes on this thread. actual people are defending it.

GET REAL!!

I'm with Ally. It sucks. And its totally riveting. Okay, I've only heard the rap of the single (Doug Henwood played it between segments on his show), but when she hits the word "pilates" my spine jerks in embarrasment and horror and pity and contempt. It's a wince moment, almost a nervous reflex, very visceral. It's noise!

On the opening track of her first album for three years, Madonna announces, she would "like to express my extreme point of view"....What on earth might her extreme point of view involve? That the world is ruled by a shadowy cabal of super-intelligent lizards?

The whole thing is here

Not too fond of "American Life", the song, but much of the rest of the album is quite noice. In particular, "Nothing Fails" is really well composed, and "Hollywood" has some great synth action on it. The combination of acoustic guitar and synths is a bit weird, but in some ways delightful (if a little overused on some tracks).

Some of the little "hey gee this is electronic music" moments are annoying - particularly in the middle of Nothing Fails when they take her whole vocal track and reduce the bitrate. Yes, I was around when we only had 8 bit soundcards, it was quaint, wasn't it?

I'll post more when I've listened more.

- i like it.

a lot more interesting than i ever expected.
sometimes v.expensive pop music is the perfect antidote to the misery of dark days and office boredom.

loving "Nobody Knows Me" written by Guy Sigsworth .. will have to see if this track is on his (unreleased) trip-hop/jungle-lite album under the name of 3rdcore - or sommat like that ..

It is MILES less consistent than True Blue or Erotica.

.. guess i should get Music then .. is the Mirwais album as impressive ?

Music is bloody good too.

will grab Music next times its a fiver then ..